Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,852 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,158 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,852 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $53,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Arete Research lifted their price target on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Monday. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $525.76 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $513.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $485.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.